Kartesia, the European specialist provider of capital solutions for small and mid-sized companies, is pleased to announce the creation of a full time CSR & ESG position, a role that will be filled by Coralie De Maesschalck starting this year.

Coralie De Maesschack had held the title of Head of Portfolio and ESG since 2015, but with the increased dedication to ESG, internally and with portfolio companies, her time will now be dedicated to it full time. She will be in-charge of CSR initiatives at corporate level, ESG criteria at portfolio level and internal procedures. From her experience as Head of Portfolio, Coralie already has an excellent understanding of the existing portfolio businesses and will remain part of the investment process going forward. Basile Gerber will take over leading the portfolio, which he has been involved in since joining in 2017 and will now manage the team as Head of Portfolio, to deliver quarterly reporting to our investors as well as other portfolio analytics, to monitor the portfolio, its valuation, supervise performance analysis and fund financings.

Damien Scaillierez, Managing Partner at Kartesia said, “We see good ESG as an important element of managing investment risk and ensuring our porfolio companies are equipped for the future. Whilst it is a core value of all our investment team, having Coralie dedicated to ESG going forward will ensure that it remains fully integrated into the investment process and significantly growing portfolio. Kartesia will also continue working on new CSR and ESG initiatives, as we aim at continuing to lead the way in developing CSR and seeking to integrate ESG issues into the Private Debt sector.”

Alongside a full time CSR & ESG position, Kartesia has just launched the Kartesia For Women initiative, in recognition of the need to attract more and promote female participation in the sector. The campaign will highlight the valuable contribution of women in the organisation and the sector, tell their stories of success and hopefully inspire and educate women to also consider careers in the private debt market.

Kartesia has two main ESG and CSR focuses for 2021. The first one will be to issue its first Sustainability Report. Secondly, to prepare for the European’s Commission’s Action Plan on Sustainable Finance, as certain key provisions of the EU Disclosure Regulation (part of the Action Plan) must be implemented by 10 March 2021.